1
The social dimension of teaching: Trust and teachers’ efficacy beliefs
Dimitri Van Maele and Mieke Van Houtte
Ghent University, Dept. of Sociology, Research Group CuDOS
Corresponding author:
Dr. Dimitri Van Maele Prof. Dr. Mieke Van Houtte
Korte Meer 3-5 Korte Meer 3-5
9000 Gent 9000 Gent
Belgium Belgium
[email protected] [email protected]
Fax: +32 (0)9 264.69.75 Fax: +32 (0)9 264.69.75
Tel: +32 (0)9 264.91.90 Tel: +32 (0)9 264.68.02
Abstract
Educational research increasingly highlights teachers’ trust in other school members to support
school functioning. Besides, teachers’ efficacy beliefs are considered to be crucial in their functioning.
To enhance teachers’ effectiveness, an understanding of the sources of their efficacy beliefs is
therefore vital. This study investigates whether teachers’ trust in students, parents, colleagues, and the
principal relate differently to various facets of teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Multilevel analyses of data of
2091 teachers across a representative sample of 80 secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium)
demonstrate different relationships between teachers’ trust in different reference groups at school and
their sense of efficacy for instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement.
Our results also indicate that teachers’ efficacy beliefs are not affected by characteristics of the school
context, such as faculty trust. Our findings suggest that school policies that focus on trust-building
could increase teacher effectiveness.
Keywords
Trust; Self efficacy; Teacher characteristics; School effectiveness; Secondary school teachers; School
surveys
2
1. Introduction
The nature of teachers’ social relationships with other school members is an inherent
aspect of the teaching job. Although teachers work fairly autonomously, they are dependent
on other participants in the school community in order to successfully accomplish their
teaching goals (Bryk & Schneider, 2002; Lortie, 2002). Hence, the quality of teachers’
relationships with students, parents, colleagues, and the principal might relate to their beliefs
about their personal ability to be successful in their teaching tasks, i.e. their sense of efficacy.
Such beliefs predict teachers’ commitment and well-being, job satisfaction, and burnout
feelings (Aelterman et al., 2007; Friedman, 2003; Klassen et al., 2009; Van Maele and Van
Houtte, 2012; Ware & Kitsantas, 2007). This is because teachers’ psychic rewards at work are
strongly based on positive experiences about the successfulness of their own teaching efforts
(Lortie, 2002). Teachers’ efficacy beliefs also affect their classroom behaviors and student
outcomes (Tschannen-Moran, Hoy & Hoy, 1998). Knowledge regarding the sources of
teachers’ efficacy beliefs is therefore pivotal for the formulation of school policies intended to
strengthen teachers’ and schools’ effectiveness.
In improving teachers’ work life, research needs to focus on factors which can be altered
through school policies (see Louis, 1998). A focus on trust is therefore promising because
trust is a relational characteristic which can be developed in schools (Cosner, 2009;
Kochanek, 2005). Educational research increasingly acknowledges that teacher trust affects
schools’ effectiveness and improvement (Bishop, 1999; Bryk & Schneider, 2002; Forsyth,
2008). Teacher trust has been related to improved student performances (Goddard, Salloum &
Berebitsky, 2009), their professionalization (Tschannen-Moran, 2009), and school innovation
(Moolenaar & Sleegers, 2010). However, the connection between teacher efficacy and trust
has not yet been explored in depth (Wahlstrom & Louis, 2008, p. 467). Whereas earlier
studies have related these concepts to each other, both were mainly conceptualized and
3
measured at the school level, and labeled collective teacher efficacy and faculty trust (see Hoy
& Tschannen-Moran, 1999; Forsyth, 2008), without paying sufficient attention to the
connection between individual teacher trust and efficacy. This is because the trust items used
in these studies probe a teacher’s judgments about the other teachers in school, whereas trust
items with a personal orientation are needed to probe the level of trust of an individual teacher
(Van Maele & Van Houtte, 2009). Besides, teachers’ sense of efficacy (TSE) is composed of
three dimensions: efficacy for instructional strategies, classroom management, and student
engagement (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). From the existing research, though, it is
unclear how separate dimensions of teacher trust relating to different reference groups at
school associate with distinct TSE-facets. First we intend to answer the question of whether
teacher trust in a specific reference group at school is of particular importance for the
establishment of positive teacher efficacy beliefs. Second, we investigate how trust in the
different reference groups relates to a teacher’s efficacy for instructional strategies, classroom
management, and student engagement. Finally, given that a school’s sense of community has
been associated with teacher efficacy (Lee, Dedrick & Smith, 1991; Newmann, Rutter &
Smith, 1989), we explore whether an independent effect of faculty trust – a collective feature
of teachers instructing in the same school – on a teacher’s efficacy beliefs exists above and
beyond individual trust effects.
2. Teacher trust and efficacy
According to Bryk & Schneider’s relational trust perspective (2002), trust in school is
embodied in the social exchanges within the school around distinct sets of role relationships
(Merton, 1957; Blau, 1986). Four reference groups for teacher trust are generally
distinguished based on the organizational roles that occur in school: students, parents,
colleagues, and the principal (Adams, 2008; Author, 2009). Teachers will have trust in these
4
role groups if there is mutual understanding of personal obligations and expectations. When
teachers view the actions of these parties as meeting their own role expectations, they will
perceive them as trustworthy (Bryk & Schneider 2002). Furthermore, Hoy & Tschannen-
Moran (1999, p. 189) describe trust in school as “an individual’s or group’s willingness to be
vulnerable to another party based on the confidence that the latter party is benevolent,
reliable, competent, honest, and open.” These facets of trust have been empirically
demonstrated to form a unitary concept of teacher trust (Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 1999).
Regarding teacher efficacy, research indicates that teachers’ beliefs about their own
teaching efficacy determine their general perspectives on the educational process and their
instructional activities and goals (Bandura, 1986, 1997; Wolters & Daugherty, 2007).
Research on teacher efficacy took a crucial step when Tschannen-Moran et al. (1998) defined
teacher efficacy as “the teacher’s belief in his or her capability to organize and execute
courses of action required to successfully accomplish a specific teaching task in a particular
context” (Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998, p. 233). A vast body of literature follows the above
conceptualization and focuses on efficacy relating to teaching tasks in the classroom context,
although an argument can be made for the conceptualization of teacher efficacy in other roles
and contexts (Friedman & Kass, 2002). Three dimensions of effective instruction have been
distinguished in TSE: efficacy for instructional strategies, classroom management, and
student engagement (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). The first dimension indicates a
teacher’s confidence that he or she can develop and use alternative strategies to facilitate
student learning, whereas the second reflects a teacher’s beliefs that he or she can maintain a
non-disruptive class environment. Efficacy for student engagement refers to a teacher’s
confidence that he or she can motivate students to become involved in and committed to
learning. This three-factor model of teacher efficacy has already proven its validity across
culturally diverse settings (Klassen et al., 2009).
5
2.1 Teacher trust as a source of teacher efficacy
A necessary question, however, is why having trust in other school participants should
foster teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Jaina & Tyson (2004) have already demonstrated that trust is
the key feature of work-based relationships that supports and builds the self-efficacy beliefs of
employees. Theoretically, the relationship between teacher trust and efficacy can be derived
from the fact that verbal or social persuasion acts as a source of teachers’ efficacy beliefs
(Bandura, 1986, 1997). This process involves efficacy information gained from verbal
interactions with significant others in the teaching context about one’s capability to perform
particular tasks. Yet, social persuasion can only affect TSE when the persuading party is
conceived to be trustworthy (Bandura, 1986; Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998). Thus, the
perception that other participants in the school organization are trustworthy is a precondition
for their verbal persuasion to serve as a potential source of a teacher’s efficacy beliefs. This
means that the more trustworthy a teacher perceives a specific reference group at school to be,
the stronger the influence of the verbal interactions with that group will be on TSE.
Furthermore, individuals who trust another party experience less uncertainty, and those who
experience trust will in turn act to meet the trusting party’s expectations (Luhmann, 1979).
This kind of work environment should positively affect teachers’ beliefs regarding their
capability to be successful in their teaching tasks given that their work is not undertaken in
isolation.
Contemporary research has suggested interactions between teacher efficacy and trust
in students and parents (Beard et al., 2010). Yet, this research only relates trust in clients to
efficacy, whereas relationships with other school actors, such as colleagues, are also important
for teachers’ well-being (Troman, 2000). It seems reasonable, then, to assume that having
trust in each distinct reference group is positively associated with teacher efficacy. We will
6
therefore explore whether teachers’ trust in the different reference groups at school make
independent positive contributions to teachers’ efficacy beliefs. To our knowledge, this study
is the first to empirically explore which dimension of teachers’ trust, in terms of trust in a
specific reference group, most accurately predicts TSE.
We also propose that trust in different reference groups could relate differently to the
efficacy dimensions as identified by Tschannen-Moran & Hoy (2001). Given that we
conceive teacher efficacy as related to the teaching role in the classroom context, we propose
that trust in the students will have a positive relationship with efficacy for instructional
strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. Furthermore, efficacy for student
engagement is partly related to the teaching role regarding family and community engagement
(Labone, 2004), whereas having trust in parents indicates the nature of family-school
partnerships (Adams & Christenson, 2000). It seems acceptable then to assume that trust in
parents has the strongest association with the efficacy dimension which relates to home-
school partnerships. Moreover, trust in colleagues and the principal could have the strongest
relationship with efficacy for student engagement, given that teachers generally experience
autonomy in their classrooms (Lortie, 2002), and because this efficacy dimension is least
related to the teaching role in the classroom (Labone, 2004). Finally, trust in the principal
could affect efficacy for instructional strategies because the principal creates the kind of
school environment in which teachers are stimulated to explore and to use different
instructional strategies and practices (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008). In sum, we
investigate whether the trust dimensions relating to different reference groups for teacher trust
have different and independent relationships with the various dimensions of teacher efficacy.
2.2 Faculty trust and teacher efficacy
7
Research has empirically demonstrated the influence of a school’s sense of community
on teachers’ efficacy (Lee et al. 1991; Newmann et al., 1989). This indicates how a positive
school climate supports that efficacy (Labone, 2004). An important indicator of such a
positive school climate is the nature of faculty trust in school (Hoy, Tarter & Kottkamp,
1991). Trust can indeed be considered not only as a feature of individual teachers, but also as
a collective feature of the teaching staff (e.g., Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 1999; Van Maele &
Van Houtte, 2009). Viewing school teachers as a unified group embedded in similar roles
within a same organizational context, social information processes – such as the structuring of
a person’s attention or the communication of constructed meanings, including evaluations of
objects and events – can lead to a collective trust phenomenon (Shamir & Lapidot, 2003).
Tschannen-Moran (2009) has shown that when faculty trust is high, teachers show a stronger
degree of professionalism. Therefore, faculty trust could lay the base for positive efficacy
beliefs. Accordingly, we propose that teachers in schools with high levels of faculty trust
display higher levels of positive efficacy beliefs than those in schools in which faculty trust is
lacking. The question is, however, whether effects of faculty trust on teachers’ efficacy beliefs
exist in addition to individual teacher trust effects.
3. Methods
3.1 Sample and Procedure
Data were gathered during the 2004-2005 school year by means of anonymous written
questionnaires across 85 secondary schools in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking region of
Belgium). A sample of 85 secondary schools was determined via multistage sampling. Based
on data from the Flemish Educational Department, 240 proportional-to-size postal codes were
selected, with size defined as the number of schools within the postal code. Therefore, large
municipalities had a greater chance of selection. From the postal codes, 48 were selected with
8
a slight overrepresentation of greater municipalities. Next, we asked all regular secondary
schools within these municipalities to participate, resulting in a positive response of 31%. The
48 municipalities and the 85 participating schools are representative for the Flemish situation
(Van Houtte et al., 2005). From the sample schools, 11872 third- and fifth-grade students
completed questionnaires (with a response rate of 87%), and school principals provided
information about school characteristics. Additionally, all third- and/or fifth-grade teachers
were asked to complete questionnaires and return it in a sealed envelope to an assigned person
in their school. A total of 2104 teachers across 84 schools did respond, yielding a response
rate of 60% (Van Maele & Van Houtte, 2009). In following Halpin (1959), only the
information from schools in which at least five teachers responded was considered
appropriate for analysis. This selection criterion was imposed to make generalizations about a
school’s staff more stable, resulting in data from 2091 teachers across 80 schools.
3.2 Research design
Because of the clustered nature of our sample, and given that we relate teacher and
school characteristics to a teacher’s efficacy beliefs, multilevel analysis (HLM 6.0) is used.
First, an unconditional multilevel model is specified to determine the school-level variance for
teacher efficacy and for the three efficacy dimensions. In a second step, individual teacher
characteristics are included. Besides the teacher trust dimensions, we account for other
teacher characteristics. We assume that teaching experience and the number of weekly
teaching hours positively contribute to TSE (cf. Bandura, 1997). The nature of the subject
taught has also been thought to influence teacher efficacy (Lee et al., 1991). Therefore we
investigate whether teaching general/theoretical or practical courses has different implications
for teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Because male teachers reported slightly lower efficacy levels
than female teachers (Taylor & Tashakkori, 1995), we control for a gender effect. We also
9
account for a teacher’s socioeconomic background. In a final step, faculty trust in students,
parents, colleagues, and the principal are included at the school level if significant school-
level variance remains in step two (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002). Because faculty trust in
students and parents were highly correlated (r = 0.78, p < 0.01), faculty trust in parents will
be excluded from this model to avoid multicollinearity problems.
3.3 Measures
Teacher trust was measured using 29 items of the trust scales developed by Hoy &
Tschannen-Moran (1999). The original items were translated into Dutch and reworded so that
an individual teacher’s trust was probed instead of a teacher’s perceptions of the staff’s trust
levels (e.g. “I am suspicious of my colleagues” instead of “Teachers in this school are
suspicious of each other”). The items, after being rescored where necessary, were rated from
absolutely disagree (1) to definitely agree (5), with the highest score indicating the highest
trust level. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on the trust
items to assess whether teachers distinguish between trust in students, parents, colleagues, and
the principal. Four factors with an eigenvalue higher than 1 were found; all items loaded as
expected. We thus discovered that individual teachers do distinguish between trust in
students, parents, colleagues, and the principal. For each trust dimension relating to a specific
reference group, missing values on the items were substituted by means of item correlation
substitution: a missing value for one item was replaced by the value of the item correlating
most highly with it (Huisman, 2000).
Trust in students was measured using 10 items, such as “You have to closely supervise
the students”. Calculating the sum score across these items resulted in a reliable scale (N =
2053; M = 32.00, SD = 4.61) with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.77. Trust in parents was calculated
using 5 items, such as “You can believe what parents tell you”. A reliable scale (N = 2044; M
10
= 16.47, SD = 2.80) with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.78 was obtained by totaling the scores on
these items. Trust in colleagues was calculated by totaling the scores on 7 items, such as “I
have faith in the integrity of my colleagues”. The composed scale (N = 2021; M = 26.78, SD =
4.33) had a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.89. Trust in the principal was measured using 7 items, such
as “The principal keeps his or her word”. Calculating the sum score of the 7 items resulted in
a scale (N = 2042; M = 26.10, SD = 4.75) with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.90.
To assess faculty trust in each reference group, i.e. a group feature, the aggregation of
the particular trust scales is a necessary next step. A customary aggregation strategy is the
calculation of the mean score of individual members of the group (e.g., Hofstede et al., 1990).
Yet, one must be sure that aggregation is permitted in terms of individual responses being
shared at the group level. To determine this, we opted for an index of mean rater reliability
based on the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) from a one-way analysis of variance: ICC
(1, k) = (between mean square – within mean square) / between mean square (with k =
number of raters in each group) (see Glick, 1985). The ICC must be at a minimum of 0.60 to
permit aggregation to the group level (Glick, 1985). We found that speaking of faculty trust is
legitimate with respect to the four trust dimensions (ICCs > 0.73; see Table 1). The means for
teacher trust in each reference group differed significantly from school to school (p < 0.001),
indicating that each dimension of faculty trust varies in its magnitude between schools. We
obtained four faculty trust scales: Faculty trust in students (N = 80; M = 32.03, SD = 2.61),
Faculty trust in parents (N = 80; M = 16.43, SD = 1.42), Faculty trust in colleagues (N = 80;
M = 26.87, SD = 1.64), and Faculty trust in the principal (N = 80; M = 25.95, SD = 2.12).
Teacher efficacy was measured using the short form of the Teachers’ Sense of
Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). This measure consists of 12 items
assessed along a 9-point continuum with anchors at 1-Not at all, 3-a Little, 5-Somewhat, 7-
Quite a Lot, 9-a Great Deal. Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they
11
perceive themselves as capable of conducting a particular action successfully. Missing values
on the items were again substituted by means of item correlation substitution (Huisman,
2000). The TSES was obtained by calculating the sum score across the 12 items (N = 2050; M
= 82.62, SD = 8.71), and demonstrated a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82.
To investigate whether our efficacy scale was composed of the three dimensions as
identified by Tschannen-Moran & Hoy (2001), we conducted a principal component analysis
with varimax rotation on the 12 items. Three factors with an eigenvalue higher than 1 were
found. Each factor consisted of 4 items and all items loaded high on the relevant efficacy
dimension. Efficacy for Instructional Strategies was obtained by calculating the sum score
across 4 items, such as “To what extent can you provide an alternative example or explanation
when students are confused?”. This scale (N = 2051; M = 27.75, SD = 3.83) has a Cronbach’s
alpha of 0.71. Efficacy for Classroom Management was also calculated by totaling the scores
on 4 items, such as “How much can you do to control disruptive behavior in the classroom?”.
The composed scale (N = 2059; M = 29.95, SD = 3.20) was reliable given its Cronbach’s
alpha of 0.80. Finally, Efficacy for Student Engagement was calculated by summing the
scores of 4 items, such as “How much can you do to help your students to value learning?”.
This scale (N = 2059; M = 24.90, SD = 3.95) showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.66, which is
still acceptable given the number of items on which the scale is based. Table 1 reports the
descriptive characteristics of, and the bivariate correlations among, the individual teacher trust
and efficacy scales.
With regard to teachers’ gender, a total of 770 men (coded 0) and 1282 women (coded
1) answered this item. Teachers’ socioeconomic background was measured by means of the
occupational prestige of their father and mother (Erikson, Goldthorpe & Portocarero, 1979);
the highest of both was used as an indicator of their socioeconomic background (N = 2015; M
= 4.99, SD = 1.68). Teaching experience was measured by the number of years that a teacher
12
had been working in his/her participating school (N = 2049; M = 16.00, SD = 10.92).
Teaching hours indicated a teacher’s weekly instruction hours in the school (N = 1972;
M=17.98, SD=5.30). Subject was dichotomized into teaching theoretical courses (coded 0),
such as mathematics, languages, history, and so forth, and teaching practical courses (coded
1), such as physical education, woodwork, plastics education, and so forth. There were 1444
teachers who taught theoretical courses and 646 teachers who taught practical courses.
TABLE 1
4. Results
Bivariate correlations among the individual teacher trust and efficacy dimensions
showed significant positive but moderate associations, except for trust in colleagues (see
Table 1). The unconditional multilevel models demonstrated that the school-level variance (τ0
/ (τ0 + σ02)) was negligible regarding teachers’ efficacy (2.1%; p < 0.01), their efficacy for
instructional strategies (1.7%; p < 0.01), and their efficacy for student engagement (2.9%; p <
0.001). The small school-level variance for efficacy for classroom management was even
insignificant. At this point it was already clear that variance in school characteristics added
little to the variation in teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Next, we included the individual teacher
characteristics into the multilevel models (Table 2). The small but significant school-level
variances for teacher efficacy and for efficacy for instructional strategies and student
engagement became insignificant, suggesting that the initial small and significant school-level
variances were probably due to selection effects. Given these results, it was unnecessary and
unadvisable to include school characteristics, such as faculty trust, into the multilevel models
because they did not add to the variance in teachers’ efficacy beliefs.
13
However, the results suggested important associations between teacher trust and
teacher efficacy (Table 2). With respect to teacher efficacy, we found significant and positive
effects of trust in parents (standardized gamma y* = 0.111; p < 0.01), trust in students (y* =
0.178; p < 0.001), and trust in the principal (y* = 0.117; p < 0.001). Efficacy for instructional
strategies was significantly and positively associated with trust in students (y* = 0.111; p <
0.001), and the principal (y* = 0.083; p < 0.001). Efficacy for classroom management was
positively associated with trust in students (y* = 0.145; p < 0.001), and trust in the principal
(y* = 0.060; p < 0.05). Finally, teacher trust in each reference group was significantly related
to a teacher’s efficacy for student engagement (see Table 2), although trust in colleagues
demonstrated a negative association (y* = -0.099; p < 0.01). These findings indicated that
teacher trust in the various reference groups related differently to the three efficacy
dimensions.
Regarding other teacher characteristics, we found that socioeconomic background and the
number of weekly teaching hours positively related to teacher efficacy. Female teachers
reported slightly higher levels of efficacy for student engagement than male teachers, as did
teachers teaching practical courses compared to those teaching theoretical ones. Those
teaching practical courses, however, reported slightly lower levels of efficacy for instructional
strategies than those teaching theoretical ones. Finally, efficacy for classroom management
was positively associated with a teacher’s experience and weekly teaching hours (see Table
2).
TABLE 2
5. Discussion
14
Understanding the antecedents of teachers’ efficacy beliefs may be important in
increasing teachers’ effectiveness. Because teachers do not work independently from other
actors in school, we investigated whether their trust in students, parents, colleagues, and the
principal contribute independently to positive beliefs about the own efficacy for instructional
strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. For this reason, we contribute to
the research on the connection between teacher trust and efficacy (Wahlstrom & Louis, 2008,
p. 467). Furthermore, we have explored the importance of the school context for teacher
efficacy. In essence we wanted to know whether faculty trust contributes to explaining
teachers’ efficacy beliefs above and beyond effects of individual teacher trust.
Contrary to previous findings (e.g. Lee et al., 1991), our study demonstrates that
teacher efficacy is not significantly influenced by the variation of school-level characteristics,
such as the level of faculty trust. Our findings thus suggest that teacher efficacy is specifically
associated with individual teacher characteristics. Individual teachers’ trust in students,
parents, and the principal relate significantly and independently to teacher efficacy. The more
trust a teacher has in the students, parents, or principal at school, the more the teacher believes
that he or she can be successful in the teaching efforts. Trust in students makes the strongest
contribution to teacher efficacy. This is obviously related to the fact that the efficacy measure
relates to teaching tasks in the classroom (Friedman & Kass, 2002), where teachers interact
with students the most. Trust in students most accurately predicts positive efficacy beliefs
regarding instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. It is thus
clear that a teacher’s efficacy beliefs are fostered most when he or she acknowledges the
students’ trustworthiness. This aligns with the significance of trust as an indicator of positive
teacher-student relationships producing favorable outcomes for teacher functioning and
student learning (Bryk & Schneider, 2002; Forsyth, 2008).
15
Trust in school participants other than students also influences the different
dimensions of teacher efficacy. Trust in parents particularly strengthens efficacy for student
engagement. This finding could be explained by the fact that trust in parents relates to family-
school relationships (Adams & Christenson, 2000), whereas efficacy for student engagement
relates to home-school partnerships as well (Labone, 2004). Teachers will thus feel more
efficacious in engaging the students in school when they perceive parents to be trustworthy.
This also holds true when a teacher trusts the principal. Moreover, trusting the principal
positively affects efficacy for instructional strategies and classroom management. This
indicates that the principal creates the kind of school environment in which teachers work
(Leithwood et al., 2008), thus also determining their efficacy beliefs. The negative association
between trust in colleagues and efficacy for student engagement may be explained by the fact
that teachers compare themselves to each other in terms of their student engagement efforts.
When teachers perceive their colleagues to be trustworthy, they view them as capable and
successful in their teaching tasks. As a result, social comparison – a process affecting self-
efficacy beliefs (cf. Bandura, 1997) – could prompt teachers to downplay their own efficacy
beliefs for student engagement. Future qualitative research (see Labone, 2004) is necessary,
however, to interpret the association between trust in colleagues and efficacy for student
engagement.
It should be noted that teaching experience and the number of weekly teaching hours
demonstrate relatively strong and positive associations with teacher efficacy for classroom
management. This might indicate the role of mastery experience as a source of teacher
efficacy (Bandura, 1997). The more experience a teacher has, the more efficacious he or she
feels in terms of maintaining a non-disruptive classroom environment. Experience did not,
however, relate to the other two dimensions of efficacy. This finding indicates the necessity of
distinguishing between different facets of teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Finally, since Lee et al.
16
(1991) suggested that the discipline taught affects teachers’ efficacy, it is interesting to note
that those teaching practical courses differ in their efficacy beliefs from those teaching
theoretical courses. The former feel more efficacious in engaging students, whereas the latter
feel more efficacious in using different instructional strategies. Future research is necessary to
investigate in depth how and why the nature of the subject taught affects these dimensions of
teacher efficacy differently.
To conclude, our findings demonstrate that teachers’ positive perceptions regarding
the quality of the relationships with other school participants support their sense of efficacy.
Where teachers perceive the students, parents, and principal in school to be trustworthy, they
are more likely to expose positive beliefs about their teaching efficacy. Trust relationships
with other adults in school, in particular, relate to teachers’ efficacy for student engagement.
Viewing trust as a way to enhance teachers’ efficacy beliefs is promising because it is an
aspect of school relationships which can be developed through principals’ actions (Crosner,
2009; Kochanek, 2005). If trust-building actions contribute to positive perceptions among
teachers about their own efficacy, these actions could also reduce teachers’ feelings of
alienation at work (cf. Newmann et al., 1989). Therefore school policies that focus on trust-
building could not only be a way to enhance teacher effectiveness, but also to increase teacher
retention, which is a concern for contemporary educational policies (Müller, Alliata, &
Benninghoff, 2009).
References
Adams, C. M. (2008). Building trust in schools: A review of the empirical evidence. In W. K.
Hoy & M. DiPaola (Eds.), Improving schools: Studies in leadership and culture (pp. 29-
54). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc.
17
Adams, K. S. & Christenson, S. L. (2000). Trust and the family–school relationship
examination of parent–teacher differences in elementary and secondary grades. Journal of
School Psychology, 38, 477-497.
Aelterman, A., Engels, N., Van Petegem, K., & Verhaeghe, J. P. (2007). The well-being of
teachers in Flanders: The importance of a supportive school culture. Educational Studies,
33, 285-297.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations for thought and action: A social cognitive theory.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman and Company.
Beard, K. S., Hoy, W. K., & Hoy, A. W. (2010). Academic optimism of individual teachers:
Confirming a new construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 1136-1144.
Bishop, P. (1999). School-based trust in Victoria: Some telling stories. Australian Journal of
Education, 43, 273-284.
Blau, P. (1986). Exchange and power in social life (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Bryk, A. S. & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement. New
York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Cosner, S. (2009). Building organizational capacity through trust. Educational Administration
Quarterly, 45, 248-291.
Erikson, R., Goldthorpe, J. H., & Portocarero, L. (1979). Intergenerational class mobility in
three Western European societies: England, France and Sweden. British Journal of
Sociology, 30, 415-441.
Forsyth, P. B. (2008). The empirical consequences of school trust. In W. K. Hoy & M.
DiPaola (Eds.), Improving schools: Studies in leadership and culture (pp. 1-28). Charlotte,
NC: Information Age Publishing Inc..
18
Friedman, I. A. & Kass, E. (2002). Teacher self-efficacy: A classroom-organization
conceptualization. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 675-686.
Friedman, I. A. (2003). Self-efficacy and burnout in teaching: The importance of
interpersonal-relations efficacy. Social Psychology of Education, 6, 191-215.
Glick, W. H. (1985). Conceptualizing and measuring organizational and psychological
climate: pitfalls in multilevel research. Academy of Management Review, 10, 601-616.
Goddard, R. D., Salloum, S. J., & Berebitsky, D. (2009). Trust as a mediator of the
relationship between poverty, racial composition, and academic achievement. Educational
Administration Quarterly, 45, 292-311.
Halpin, A. W. (1959). The leader behavior of school superintendents. Chicago: Midwest
Administrative Center.
Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohavy, D. D., & Sanders, G. (1990). Measuring organizational
cultures - A qualitative and quantitative study across 20 cases. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 35, 286-316.
Hoy, W. K., Tarter, C. J., & Kottkamp, R. B. (1991). Open schools, healthy schools:
Measuring organizational climate. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Hoy, W. K. & Tschannen-Moran, M. (1999). Five faces of trust: An empirical confirmation in
urban elementary schools. Journal of School Leadership, 9, 184-208.
Huisman, M. (2000). Imputation of missing item responses: some simple techniques. Quality
and Quantity, 34, 331-351.
Jaina, J. & Tyson, S. (2004). Psychological similarity in work-based relationships and the
development of self-efficacy beliefs. Human Relations, 57, 275-296.
Klassen, R. M., Bong, M., Usher, E. L., Chong, W. H., Huan, V. S., Wong, I. Y. F. et al.
(2009). Exploring the validity of a teachers' self-efficacy scale in five countries.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34, 67-76.
19
Kochanek, J. R. (2005). Building trust for better schools: Research-Based Practices.
Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Labone, E. (2004). Teacher efficacy: maturing the construct through research in alternative
paradigms. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 341-359.
Lee, V. E., Dedrick, R. F., & Smith, J. B. (1991). The Effect of the Social Organization of
Schools on Teachers' Efficacy and Satisfaction. Sociology of Education, 64, 190-208.
Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2008). Seven strong claims about successful
school leadership. School Leadership & Management, 28, 27-42.
Lortie, D. C. (2002). Schoolteacher: A sociological study (2nd ed.). Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press.
Louis, K. S. (1998). Effects of teacher quality of work life in secondary schools on
commitment and sense of efficacy. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 9, 1-27.
Luhmann, N. (1979). Trust and power. New York: Wiley.
Merton, R. K. (1957). The role-set : Problems in sociological theory. The British Journal of
Sociology, 8, 106-120.
Moolenaar, N. M. & Sleegers, P. J. C. (2010). Social Networks, Trust, and Innovation: The
Role of Relationships in Supporting an Innovative Climate in Dutch Schools. In A. J. Daly
(Ed.), Social Network Theory and Educational Change (pp. 97-114). Cambridge, MA:
Harvard Education Press.
Müller, K., Alliata, R., & Benninghoff, F. (2009). Attracting and retaining teachers: A
question of motivation. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37, 574-
599.
Newmann, F. M., Rutter, R., & Smith, M. (1989). Organizational factors that affect school
sense of efficacy, community, and expectations. Sociology of Education, 62, 221-238.
20
Raudenbush, S. W. & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models. Applications and data
analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Shamir, B. & Lapidot, Y. (2003). Trust in organizational superiors: Systemic and collective
considerations. Organization studies, 24, 463-491.
Taylor, D. L. & Tashakkori, A. (1995). Decision participation and school climate as
predictors of job satisfaction and teachers' sense of efficacy. Journal of Experimental
Education, 63, 217-230.
Troman, G. (2000). Teacher stress in the low-trust society. British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 21, 331-353.
Tschannen-Moran, M., Hoy, A. W., & Hoy, W. K. (1998). Teacher efficacy: Its meaning and
measure. Review of Educational Research, 68, 202-248.
Tschannen-Moran, M. & Hoy, A. W. (2001). Teacher efficacy: capturing an elusive construct.
Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 783-805.
Tschannen-Moran, M. (2009). Fostering teacher professionalism in schools: The role of
leadership orientation and trust. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45, 417-447.
Van Houtte, M., Stevens, P.A.J., Sels, A., Soens, K. & Van Rossem, R. (2005). De Invloed
van Structurele en Compositorische Schoolkenmerken op Prestaties en Welbevinden van
Leerlingen in het Secundair Onderwijs. Een Verklaring via Cultuur. [The Influence of
Structural and Compositional School Features on Achievement and Well-being of
Secondary School Students. An Explanation through Culture]. Unpublished research
report, Department of Sociology, Research Group Youth, Education, and Gender, Ghent
University, Ghent.
Van Maele, D., & Van Houtte, M. (2009). Faculty Trust and Organizational School
Characteristics: An Exploration across Secondary Schools in Flanders. Educational
Administration Quarterly, 45, 556-589.
21
Van Maele, D., & Van Houtte, M. (2012). The role of teacher and faculty trust in forming
teachers’ job satisfaction: Do years of experience make a difference? Teaching and
Teacher Education, 28, 879-889.
Wahlstrom, K. L. & Louis, K. S. (2008). How teachers experience principal leadership: The
roles of professional community, trust, efficacy, and shared responsibility. Educational
Administration Quarterly, 44, 458-495.
Ware, H. & Kitsantas, A. (2007). Teacher and collective efficacy beliefs as predictors of
professional commitment. The Journal of Educational Research, 100, 303-310.
Wolters, C. A. & Daugherty, S. G. (2007). Goal structures and teachers' sense of efficacy:
Their relation and association to teaching experience and academic level. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 99, 181-193.
22
Tables
Table 1. Descriptive statistics of and bivariate correlations among the individual teacher trust
and efficacy variables
Variables N Mean SD ICCa
Cron-
bach’s α
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Teacher efficacy 2050 82.62 8.71 0.35 0.82
2. Efficacy for
instructional strategies
2051 27.75 3.83 0.31 0.71 .82***
3. Efficacy for
classroom management
2059 29.95 3.20 0.19 0.80 .71*** .38***
4. Efficacy for student
engagement 2059 24.90 3.95 0.42 0.66 .84*** .54*** .40***
5. Trust in students 2053 32.00 4.61 0.87 0.77 .21*** .14*** .15*** .21***
6. Trust in parents 2044 16.47 2.80 0.82 0.78 .16*** .08*** .10*** .19*** .46***
7. Trust in colleagues 2021 26.78 4.33 0.73 0.89 .04 .03 .06* .01 .28*** .24***
8. Trust in the principal 2042 25.99 4.75 0.82 0.90 .13*** .10*** .08** .13*** .24*** .18*** .41***
Note: *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001; a: ICC = (BMS-WMS)/BMS (Glick, 1985).
23
Table 2. Association between teacher characteristics and teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Results of
multilevel analysis - standardized gamma coefficients (y*) with standard errors in
parentheses
Teacher efficacy
Efficacy for
instructional
strategies
Efficacy for
classroom
management
Efficacy for
student
engagement
Teacher characteristics
Gender 0.029 0.020 0.007 0.043*
(male = 0) (0.406) (0.185) (0.148) (0.171)
SES 0.043* 0.053* 0.023 0.033
(0.104) (0.048) (0.039) (0.052)
Experience 0.039 -0.049 0.139*** 0.019
(0.019) (0.009) (0.007) (0.008)
Teaching hours 0.075** 0.033 0.118*** 0.038
(0.038) (0.018) (0.014) (0.017)
Subject - 0.005 -0.083** 0.021 0.051*
(theoretical courses = 0) (0.494) (0.245) (0.171) (0.187)
Trust in parents 0.111** 0.040 0.031 0.159***
(0.100) (0.041) (0.030) (0.044)
Trust in students 0.178*** 0.111*** 0.145*** 0.164***
(0.049) (0.021) (0.016) (0.025)
Trust in colleagues -0.058 -0.028 0.015 -0.099**
(0.070) (0.029) (0.021) (0.029)
Trust in the principal 0.117*** 0.083*** 0.060* 0.119***
(0.053) (0.023) (0.019) (0.026)
Variance Components
Intercept U0 1.017 0.200 0.132 0.464
Gender U1 1.309 0.496 0.351 0.140
SES U2 0.091 0.017 0.016 0.036
Experience U3 0.004 0.000 0.001 0.001
Teaching hours U4 0.017 0.003 0.003 0.005
Subject U5 4.448* 1.516** 0.302 0.332
Trust in parents U6 0.330* 0.040* 0.011 0.052
Trust in students U7 0.008 0.004 0.003 0.007
Trust in colleagues U8 0.160** 0.022 0.009** 0.019*
Trust in the principal U9 0.071* 0.015 0.302 0.018
Note: *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
Top Related